Learning to Love Again
by Fists
Summary: Jareth helps Sarah through a hard time and shows her that it is possible to fall in love twice in one lifetime. Sarah/Other. Jareth/Sarah.
1. Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Sarah or ::pouts:: Jareth...(I would love to own him as my own personal sex slave though...hehe) or any of the characters from the Labyrinth. However I do own Jeremy ::evil grin:: and any other characters that don't seem familiar. NOTE: any words in '{}' are meant to be in italics.  
  
Feedback: PLEAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! It is a necessity  
to life!!!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!!!!!  
  
**_Learning to Love Again_**  


_Chapter 1_  
  
"She follows the path of least resistance.  
She doesn't care to see the mountain top.  
She twists and turns with no regard to distance.  
She never comes to a stop.  
  
And she rolls, she's a river.  
Where she goes, time will tell.  
Heaven knows, he can't go with her.  
And she rolls, all by herself. All by herself  
  
He's headed for a single destination.  
He doesn't care what's standing in his path.  
He's a line between two points of separation.  
He ends just where it says to on the map. 

And he rolls, he's a highway.  
Where he goes time will tell.  
Heaven knows, she can't go with him.  
And he rolls, all by himself. All by himself.

And every now and then,  
he offers her a shoulder.  
And every now and then she overflows  
And every now and then,  
A bridge crosses over.  
It's a moment, that every lover knows.

And she rolls, (and he rolls)  
she's a river (he's a highway)  
Where she goes (where he goes)  
Time will tell (time will tell)  
Heaven knows, she can't go with him (he can't go with her)  
And she rolls, all by herself  
And he rolls, all by himself.  
Fare thee well."  
  
(This song (_River and the Highway_) is not mine. It belongs to Pam Tillis)  
  
Sarah sang the final chords as she watched Toby finally drift off to sleep. Smiling, she bent down and kissed the ten-year-olds forehead. He squirmed a bit in his sleep but, thankfully didn't wake-up. Sarah smiled again at her darling half-brother before creeping out of the room. She felt a bit sorry for him though.  
Their father had died the year before and his mother- her stepmother- had been practically nonexistent ever since. She slept all day-mostly because she had a hang over, and she went out every night with a different guy, not coming home until one or two in the morning. Sarah was constantly taking care of Toby and had basically moved back in, regardless of the fact that she had an apartment across town. She didn't even know why she still paid the rent for that place. She was NEVER there. Maybe she should just-  
Sarah was thrown from her thoughts as she heard a soft voice calling to her from downstairs. She grinned knowing it was Jeremy. Jeremy was the one thing in her life that she knew she could depend on.  
Still smiling, she padded down the stairs to greet her boyfriend of six months.  
"Hey babe," she said upon finding him in the living room.  
He turned to her and smiled as he approached her, pulling her into his arms. Sarah grinned as she leaned up and lovingly kissed Jeremy. She parted her lips slightly and Jeremy ran his tongue lightly over her bottom lip making her shiver. Her hands went up around his neck and played with the soft hairs on the back of it, knowing that he loved that. He groaned against her mouth and pulled her tighter against him. When they finally pulled away from each other both were breathing heavily. Jeremy pulled away and scanned the room quickly.  
"Hey. Where's Squirt at?"  
Squirt was Jeremy's nick-name for Toby. The two were very close and sometimes Sarah wasn't sure whether it was her or Toby that Jeremy came to see all the time.  
"He just went to bed."  
Jeremy's smile faltered for a moment but then grew brighter.  
"That's ok...I've got something to tell you anyway...and I'd rather us be alone for this..." he trailed off leading her to the couch and taking hold of her hands.  
He looked nervous and that made Sarah worry about what he was about to tell her...What if he wanted to break-up? She didn't think she could handle it if he didn't love her the same way she loved him? What if he...  
Once again she was disturbed from her thoughts as Jeremy took a deep breath and began to speak.  
"Sarah...I know we haven't been together for long but...I know how I feel about you. I love you. I always have. Please? Marry me? You are the only one I could ever want." he requested, slipping something over her left ring finger. Sarah, completely shocked, looked down at her hand to see the most beautiful ring she had ever laid eyes on. The gold band held a diamond on the top with four sapphires surrounding it. Joyful tears slid down Sarah's cheeks and splashed onto her and Jeremy's hands as she looked back at her love. She nearly laughed at the expression on his face though. He looked so nervous! Could he actually be doubting that she would say yes? She grinned and the relief on his face was almost instant. He took her face in his hands and pulled her into a kiss that was so full of love and passion it left Sarah and Jeremy both breathless.  
"Yes," she whispered, staring into his beautiful blue eyes.  
"Yes I will marry you."  
He grinned even wider and pulled her to him again. Just as their lips were about to touch they were interrupted by the front door being slammed open. Sarah jumped off the couch, muttering a few colorful phrases as she made her way to the door. There stood Karyn, drunk as ever. She swayed dangerously and Sarah put an arm around her waist to help her up. Jeremy entered the room a minute later and took Karyn's other side. Together they hauled the drunk woman upstairs to her room. As they slipped the covers up over her body Karyn suddenly turned towards Jeremy, "Toby? Damn boy you sure grew up to be a good looking man. If you weren't my son I'd take ya right here. Hell! I might anyway. C'mere!" Jeremy suppressed a laugh and looked over at Sarah, seeing that she too was trying to stifle her laughter. Jeremy shook his head and grabbed Sarah's hand as they left the room and closed the door. When they were finally back downstairs they burst out laughing.  
"Well 'Toby'. Does this mean that I'm marrying my brother?"  
Sarah teased, still giggling a bit. They collapsed onto the couch and Sarah leaned back on him, loving the feeling of just being near him.  
"As long as I can still do this...," he murmured seductively, kissing her neck, just below her jaw line.  
Sarah moaned letting her head fall back against his shoulder. She slid one hand around the back of his neck holding him to her and moaned as he bit down lightly on her neck. Jeremy tightened his grasp around her waist pulling her practically onto his lap. She turned over pulling Jeremy's lips away from her neck as she did. He pouted slightly before kissing her lips, gently. She leaned into him deepening the kiss as much as she could, both wishing they could turn it into more but knowing that with Toby upstairs such a thing would be very unwise. It was fifteen minutes later when they finally broke away from each other. Sarah turned back over and held her hand up, admiring her ring.  
"Do you like it," he questioned, whispering softly into her ear.  
"I love it. It's perfect."  
Jeremy smiled against her neck and brought his hand up to hand, entwining their fingers. Sighing softly, Sarah let her eyes fall closed and feeling herself drifting into sleep.  
Jeremy stayed awake awhile longer, just watching her. She always looked so completely innocent when she slept. He knew differently though. There was a fire in Sarah- one that he had never seen in anyone else. He sighed sleepily and gave into his exhaustion falling asleep with Sarah's hand still clutched in his.  
Sarah sighed peacefully in her sleep. She always had beautiful dreams when she was near Jeremy. Tonight though...tonight was different...  
*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~  
She was in a room-a room full of stairs. But...they weren't like normal stairs...some of them were upside down and none of them connected to form an actual path. She knew this room but... where did she know it from? Of course!! The 'Escher Room' from the labyrinth. How could she forget? This was where she had finally gotten her brother back and defeated Jar-The Goblin King! Ok. Now she knew _where _ she was. Now if she only knew _why _ she was here... Just then she heard footsteps. Unmistakable footsteps. But where were they coming from? She realized exactly where they were coming from when a leather-clad hand fell upon her shoulder...Uh-ohhhh. Taking a deep breath she turned around to face... nobody? "Stop playing games with me Jareth! It's obvious you brought me here so what do you want?" she shouted to the room. Laughter filled the air. His laugh. And suddenly he was there. Right in front of her. 'Oh. My. God.' He still looked exactly the same as he did when she last saw him. He was dressed in the same black and red clothes he wore last time she was here. And he looked _really _ good in them. He smirked reading her thoughts obviously. Realizing what he had been doing she angrily thought a _very _unlady-like thought and told him to get out of her head. His face only registered slight surprise before once again smirking.  
"Hello Sarah."  
His voice was also still the same. The rich velvety accent that sent shivers up and down her spine. She knew she couldn't hide her attraction to him but it didn't hurt to try to mask it with her hatred.  
"Why have you brought me here Jareth?" she asked, making sure she kept all emotion out of her voice. He smirked and formed a crystal ball.  
"Look into it Sarah..."  
"I don't want your dumb dream crystal! I don't even want to be here! And I certainly don't want to see _you_!" she spat venomously, not able to control her hatred.  
In a swift movement he pulled her to him and forced her to look into the crystal. The scene that played before her was more horrifying than anything she'd ever experienced...It was Jeremy's death!  
"No......"  
She saw the scene in explicit detail... first she had walked through the door of some place she didn't recognize. Jeremy had been right behind her. They had heard something and Jeremy immediately pushed her behind him. Another figure appeared...coming down a staircase. There were a few spoken words- though they couldn't be heard through the crystal- then the figure had lunged at Sarah. Jeremy had grabbed the person before they could touch her and they wrestled around for a moment before Jeremy fell to the ground. The girl in the crystal let out a silent scream and rushed towards Jeremy as the figure ran out of the building. Jeremy was in the girl's arms gaping for breath...he had been shot and he died in moments...  
"This is what I've brought you here for. I had to prepare you for this. I had to show you..." he trailed off and she struggled out of his grasp, turning on him viciously.  
"You _actually _ expect me to _believe _ this is going to happen! You are just trying to scare me! Leave me alone!"  
*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~  
  
"Baby...? Baby wake-up. Babe? Sarah! Honey c'mon wake-up!"  
Startled from her dream, Sarah lashed out with her fists, connecting firmly with something that felt suspiciously like a jaw. Her eyes shot open to reveal Jeremy holding his jaw and looking at her with a mixture of amusement and concern and maybe-though he'd never admit it- a bit of pain.  
"Oh God! Jeremy! I'm so sorry!" she began to shake as some of her dream came back to her, "I just- I had-" she couldn't even finish the sentence she was shaking so badly.  
Jeremy's face quickly lost it's amusement and his arms encircled her face, pulling her close to him and trying to comfort her.  
"Shh....Baby it was just a dream. It's ok. I'm here now. Nothing's gonna hurt you while I'm here. Shh."  
Sarah only vaguely realized that Jeremy was holding her. She remembered her dream perfectly and it terrified her beyond all reasonable thinking.  


To be Continued...

You like? Tell me if you did.


	2. Family

Sorry this chapter is so short. I promise I'll start updating more regularly. Real life stuff has kept me from writing for awhile but I'm already working on the next chapters so they should be out later this week. Disclaimers and such are in the first chapter.

_Chapter 2_

(The Next Day)  
  
"Toby! You ready?" Sarah called up the stairs.  
She was still a bit shaken up from the dream but she hid it well....there was no reason for Jeremy to worry about her. She knew he could tell he was hiding something but he knew her to well to ask what was wrong.  
They had been planning to take Toby to the park and let him play. While the hyper ten-year-old reeked havoc upon the pigeons gathered on the ground Jeremy and Sarah would find a seat on a bench to observe the people walking by. They loved making up possible lives for the people in the park and connecting them to each other. And in Sarah's town there wasn't anything much better to do.  
At that moment Toby came barreling down the stairs...and the second he saw Sarah he ran straight towards her full force, hugging her fiercely around her middle.  
"Mornin' Bright Eyes!!"  
Bright Eyes had been Toby's nickname for Sarah since he could talk. 'Cuz Sarah's eyes always sparkled- with what he considered magic. In Toby's eyes Sarah was perfect.  
"Woah Toby! What's with the big hug? I thought that was only for sissy's?" she taunted, knowing full well that he only said that around his friends.  
He glared up at her and she put on an innocent face before throwing him onto the couch and attacking him. Jeremy walked in a moment later to see Toby on the couch laughing wildly with Sarah on top of him tickling him for everything she was worth. Grinning he leaned up against the door frame and watched the show with amusement. He had never seen siblings act the way Toby and Sarah acted. Of course with their father gone and Karyn...she was basically the only responsible adult around. But still...she made such a great mother. He couldn't wait till they had kids of their own.  
"Ahem...children are we ready to go?" he teased.  
Toby and Sarah only paused for a moment before tackling Jeremy to the floor. In a matter of moments however the tables changed and Sarah was the one being tickled.  
Needless to say, they got to the park a bit later then when they had planned.  
  
(Two days later)  
  
"Well what about her? What's her story?" Sarah asked pointing to the woman in the business suit.  
"Her...hmm...she's a teacher for preschool but when she gets home she prepares for her _other _ job...You see in secret she's a bartender down at McRyan's Pub...Her specialty is Red Eyes (anybody ever seen Cocktails? hehe)."  
"JEREMY!! You are HORRIBLE!!" Sarah laughed, playfully smacking his arm.  
"I know," he replied grinning proudly.  
Sarah rolled her eyes goofily and glanced to where Toby was frightening pigeons.  
"Hey Sarah," Jeremy started, "Umm...ok I knew that when we got married you wouldn't want to live in your parents house so...do you see Mr. Flanagan's house over there?"  
Sarah looked at the building before looking back to Jeremy wide-eyed, "For us?"  
He nodded.  
"Oh my God!!! You bought us a house?"  
He nodded again, "It's two stories with two bathrooms, a kitchen, den, a guest room and even a room for Toby."  
Not waiting another second, Sarah threw her arms around Jeremy, kissing him passionately, trying to show him how much this meant to her.  
"Ewwwww kissing gross!!"  
They hadn't noticed Toby walking back over to them and broke away from each other laughing.  
"Hey Squirt. Wanna see the house Sarah and me are gonna move into?" Jeremy asked, standing up.  
Toby nodded eagerly and the three of them walked the few blocks to what was going to be Sarah and Jeremy's home. It was a beautiful house. The owner, Mr. Harrison Flanagan, was only selling it because he was moving to South Carolina to be near his family. Jeremy worked for Mr. Flanagan at the local newspaper and had gotten a good deal on it since he knew the owner.  
The house was already Jeremy's even though the paperwork wasn't completely processed yet because Mr. Flanagan had already left town. Jeremy quickly unlocked the door, and opened it in a grand flourish.  
"Behold...the home of Sarah and Jeremy Davis!"  
Sarah walked cautiously inside and took one glance around the front room...Then she fainted.


End file.
